Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-01-01
WHY FRENCHMEN FIGHT DUELs
To Improve Their Position as Jour
naiists and TO Get into society.

ITO Improve Their Position as Jour
nalists and TO Get into society.
From ne ran Jfau Gazette.
Dueling is u0ed by most "renchmen as an
advertisement. 1t is a cheap road 10 glory.
To duel and see their names in
priI 8 the height OF their ambition.
Needy journals and needier journalists
resort to it to improve their position, for
duel always interests the French pub
lie. Some papers are accustomed to put
down duels among their general eX-
penses. thus: A carriage, so francs;
swords or pistols, 80 francs; lunch, 30
francs; total, $50 francs. DuelIng, too. is
Kind OF passport to society. A success
ful duelist is petted by the ladies; he is
nero VIII whom they are not afraid of
INDUCING IN the mysteries OF the alcOve.
lac President OF the republic patronizes
the noble art of Pescrime, and weekly
tournaments by crack hands take place
al the Elysee. Special reporters, who
adopt high-sounding nom de plume. such
as 'Spada," "JarnacO or "DOn Quich-
Otte," are engaged to relate the feats Of
these carpet knights. They wax eloquent
over tre thrusts prompts CONNIE la foudre
OF NJ de Y and the irresistible degages
of Nj de l.. IT. must he added, how
ever, that while there are many fond Of
fencing and shooting for their own sake,
there are also goOdly number who have
no liking at all for either fol- or pistol, but
who are compelled to follow the fashion.
OF the duelsts now living in Paris
whose deeds have created the greateaG
sensation among the public, Paul dc Cas-
saEuac ana Henri RochefOrt are conspIc-
uous. Both have FOUGHT times out OF
number. ROchelOrt generally gets wound
ed, because he is 100 ImDulsiVe; Dnt Cas-
sagnac, fiery as he is IN the tribune of The
ChamO, r. is as cool as "a cucum Der on the
field, and is rarely hurt. This was the
case when they fought together. 1t was
a remarkable encounter.
Cassagnac's account of it to friend is
worth giving: AFTER VAN attempt to
fight in Belgium, where he e. adarmerie
kept on our heels, we louad ourselves at
last face to face outside Paris, near ST.
Denis. 1t was on Jan. !, and the snow
fell in large fakes. Rochetort dred and
missed me, | fired IN rep,r. R3cnefort
fell. i thought he was Killed, tor the
bullet struck him just were l aimed
above the hip. The doctors rushed for
ward and picked him up. But he was
not dead; instead Of being pierced
through, he had received only a violent
confusion. The bullet had devlated, but
how? The doctors searched, and a.
length found O medal of the Virgin, which
some friendly hand mad secretly sewn in
the belt of his trousers, and which had
saved his life"
Another noted duelist is the Comte de
Dion, a swell Bouleyardier, who inflicted
the other day an ugly wound on jour-
nalist who had written dIsrespectfully OF
his approach marriage TO NJ lie. Marsy,
an actress of the Francois. The Count
formerly refused to try conclusions with
any body not of noble blood. Aureien
Scholl, one of the few remaining wits OF
Paris, nettled him in a chronique. In
stead OF sending his seconds to him Dion
went TO Bign0n's. where SchOll dimes,
and smashed a soda water bottle on his
head. Nothing daunted, Scholl continued
his waspish attacks, and goaded him
to such an extent THAI Dion was forced to
put his nobility in his pocket and call him
out. 1t was an easy victory, for the
Count Is an active, powerful man, where
as Scholl is weak and shOrt-si- hted.
Clemenceau is also a cOnsummate hand er
of the weapons, but OF late years, since
he has become the Radical leader OF the
Cham Der. he mas given up duelng, and
only turns out when it is necessary.
ARdrleuX, the political chameleon, is an
other redoubtable antagonist both with
sword and pistol; he nearly Killed his
man in his last encounter.
DugaZon and Desessarts, comedians of
the Francois, went out one day. The
and INN. The seconds handed them the
swords, and just as the solemn "Allez.
messieursP' had been uttered Desessarts
suddenly cried out: "St0D minute; my
enemy being more YolumnOus than am,
the chances are not equal. Let me re-
store the equilibrium" Aud graVely
taking piece Of chalk out of his pocket.
he proceeded to mark a circumference on
the chest of DugaZon. "rhere," he eX-
a the hlnJNa ItSi 10
that must not Dugazon burst
out laus ting his wrongs,
t1reW DVVh and shook hands
' w.'s declaring his honor more
A duel IN which Sainte-BeuVe was one
OF the principals had a similar ending.
Ii rained cats and dogs at the meeting.
The author of the famous ''Lundls" APP
peared on the field with an umbrella in
one Land and IA blunderbuss in the other.
~ don't smind being killed." ne said,
but object To getting wet"